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Romantic Road
Despite spending six weeks in Bavaria over the last few years, and spending time in both Rothenburg and Füssen, I have never seen the rest of the Romantic Road. So, I am considering picking that up on a future trip.
In looking at the Romantic Road bus tour, I see that the bus stops in 24 towns between Füssen and Würzburg. How many of those towns are really significant and how many stops are just made because the bus passes through the town? Since I have already seen Füssen, I am thinking of picking up the RR at Wieskirche, after first seeing Linderhof and Ettal Monastery. I have laid out a three-day itinerary, starting at Wieskirche and following the bus route to Weikersheim, with 8 stops of an hour or more (2 overnight) at Peiting, Schongau, Landsberg, Donauwörth, Nördlingen, Dinkelsbühl, Feuchtwangen, and Creglingen. I intend to finish with a night in Weikersheim, then go on to Würzburg. I am not very interested in churches; Wieskirche will probably satisfy my church viewing needs for the entire trip. What else is there to see in these towns? I like things of historic value, like castles and old city walls. I have researched this site for other comments on the RR, and there seem to be general comments, like the southern half is boring, etc., but I have not found enough specific information about individual towns. For those people who have actually been to these places, are there any towns that I should add to the list, and why? Are there any currently on the list that are not worth the stop, and why? |
To stop for an hour or more via the bus means you'd have to usually stay overnight in each one due to very limited bus service - one or two a day at most i think on your route.
Bus only stops for hour or so in Nodlingen, Dinkelsbuhl and Rothenburg and may shorten those stops if behind schedule. |
I was not planning on using the RR bus. I was just using it's list of towns to define the route. How many of those towns are worth a stop?
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OK - sorry bout that. After i replied i looked at the poster name and saw yours and immediately thought, Larry obviously knows that. Would not have replied if i had read your name - i did take the bus and didn't see too much very memorable except for the towns i mentioned - Wurzburg of course is exceptional and Augsburg nice as well.
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PalQ, what is going on? Is everyone too exhausted from a full weekend of posting to answer my question? Certainly someone must have traveled the Romantic Road. Did they all just drive past these towns without stopping? Why has no one offered any advice?
Certainly, the bus trip you took was a marathon – over 9 hours of just sitting on a bus watching the scenery. I think the bus stops for lunch somewhere on the route, and for about 10 minutes at Wieskirche. I don’t want to do that. I am determined to make this a thorough tour of the Romantic Road, stopping to see any sight worth seeing. I have made a list of towns based on the bus schedule on Euraide.com, and found URLs for all these towns (not difficult, most are www.townname.de). Then I go back and look at the town website to see if they indicate anything worth seeing in their town. So many town websites feature only (or at least first and foremost) the town church (sigh). Nördlingen is a town I have long wanted to see. Dinkelsbühl might also be interesting, although it seems to be a copy of Nördlingen. In my research, I have discovered that Donauwörth might be worth some time. After reviewing the southern part, I think I have determined that Wildsteig, Rottenburg, and Hohenfurch have nothing of interest. On the other hand, Schongau seems to have some historical wall remains worth seeing. I am not sure about Peiting; they have the excavation of some ancient roman ruins – is that worth seeing? Anyway, I am still awaiting the advice of all those who have realy toured, not just driven, the Romantic Road. |
LarryinColorado writes: Anyway, I am still awaiting the advice of all those who have realy toured, not just driven, the Romantic Road.
Looks like you're going to be the first Larry... I've driven the Romantic Road many times but never taken the time to stop at all the towns and villages you plan to. I've done my research in the past also and always came to the conclusion that my time was best spent in the villages of Nördlingen, Dinkelsbühl, Rothenburg o.d.T., Würzburg and Füssen and the two that I would recommend you spend your two overnights in would be Dinkelsbühl and Nördlingen. The church at Rottenbuch (just north of Wildstieg) is excellent and worthy of a visit (as is the cemetery there at the church). Believe it or not - I have been planning a similar indepth visit along the Romantic Road for my next solo trip (whenever that might be). I have been looking forward to taking several days and just poking along taking lots of pictures and documenting the road with photos as best I can from top to bottom. As far as "Why has no one offered any advice?" I think you answered that yourself. You have probably done more research on your upcoming trip and know more about where you are going than any of us. The best that we can do is hope you do a detailed trip report when you return... Ben |
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Ira, been there already. My best source of info thus far has been the websites of the individual towns.
I have done a lot of internet research, and I have concluded that for the southern part (so. of Augsburg), Wildsteig, Rottenbuch, and Hohenfurch aren't worth the stop, but Peiting, Schongau, and Landsberg might be. I just wanted the opinion of someone who has been in those towns. |
LarryinC:
I've driven the Romantic Road a few times. I found the drive to be a mixture of beauty and a traffic headache. Between the Wieskirche and Wurzburg I would spend the night in Augsburg and Nordlingen. I would make stops in Dinkelsbuhl, Creglingen, and Bad Mergentheim. I would try to arrange a bike rental during your trip. |
Well, FWIW, we stayed a night in Donauwirth and didn't find it very interesting. Dinkelsbuhl was small and cute.
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I actually found the Castle Road between Heidelberg and Rothenburg to be vastly more scenic than the busy Romantik Road - again only took the bus but two towns we stopped in were real gems and the Neckar Valley was really pretty.
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Hi L,
> Peiting, Schongau, and Landsberg might be [worth visiting]. Thanks. I shall check them out. ((I)) |
We enjoyed our drive along the Romantic Road, but we didn't stop in very many towns. We had planned to, but after almost 2 weeks of walking our feet off, we realized we were just happy to hit the open road in the rental car and watch the scenery pass by. We did stop in Dinklesbuhl, which was very nice. We also stopped at a couple places to look at cows, check out little streams, and that sort of thing.
Not really the experience you are looking for though. |
Hi Larry,
I've posted several times about the Romantic Road in recent months, if you do a search on my name. I've copied the itinerary from our pre-Christmas trip below: Day 1: Stuttgart to Wuerzburg Walked around the city in the afternoon, stayed at Hotel Zur Stadt Mainz (charming, walking distance to the major sites, and has a very nice traditional Franconian restaurant) Day 2: Wurzburg to Rothenburg Walked around Marienberg Fortress, stopped in Bad Mergentheim for lunch, checked in at Burg Colmberg (fabulous castle-hotel about 12 miles from Rothenburg), walked around Rothenburg in the evening and had dinner there Day 3: Rothenburg to Augsburg Spent the morning in Rothenburg, stopped at Dinkelsbuehl and passed through a couple of other small towns on the way to Augsburg. We stayed in Augsburg but I would have preferred Dinkelsbuehl or another smaller town (like Noerdlingen). I might have felt differently if it wasn't the middle of winter, but I prefer smaller towns anyway. Day 4: Augsburg to Hohenschwangau Shopped in Augsburg in the morning, stopped at Landsberg am Lech and the Weiskirche. Stayed at Hotel Mueller in Hohenschwangau - amazing to walk around at night and see the castles lit up against the sky. Day 5: Hohenschwangau to Stuttgart Toured both castles in the morning before heading home to Stuttgart This trip definitely felt a bit rushed, in part because the daylight hours were so short (it was pretty much dark by 5 pm!). I am living in Stuttgart, so since this trip I've been able to return to Landsberg am Lech, which is a gorgeous little town - great to walk along the river and through the quiet neighborhood streets. It was nice staying at Hotel Goggl right near the main square because the town really "goes back to the locals" at night. Also has an impressive medieval gate tower at the top of the town (not the one you pass through as you leave the main square). If you like castles, then I also HIGHLY recommend Schloss Harburg, which is not on most Romantic Road itineraries (I think it gets a sideline note in the Fodor's Germany guidebook). It is an authentic medieval castle with a good tour (if you are lucky you'll get an guide who speaks English). It's near Noerdlingen, as I recall, and the highway passes directly under it. Based on what you say you like to do, I would not spend much time in Augsburg. It has a nice shopping street and huge cathedral, plus the Goldener Saal in the Rathaus is quite impressive. Worthy of an afternoon. I definitely recommend Dinkelsbuehl - great town wall and towers. I have not yet been to Nordlingen but it also looks really neat. The fortress in Wuerzburg is definitely worth some exploration time. We did not do a tour but just bought a little guidebook at the tourist shop and spent several hours walking around. Sounds like you've really done your research. I hope it will inspire others to experience the "real" Romantic Road! |
Bird,
>I've driven the Romantic Road a few times. I found the drive to be a mixture of beauty and a traffic headache. You seem to be making a good arguement for the Romantic Road bus - No traffic headache and plenty of time to enjoy the beauty. Ira, I originally selected Peiting for a visit because their website features a wall, towers, and gates under “Sehenswürtigkeiten”, but now I see that the wall, etc, are actually in Schongau. The only other thing of interest to me in Peiting is an excavation of a 3rd century Roman villa. That website, however, says nothing about visiting hours or tours. I am only sure you can get in, to work at the site, if you buy a €20 annual membership. I’m thinking, now, that I will skip Peiting. Schongau, as I said, has an old wall with towers and gates. I’d like to see them. Same thing applies to Landsberg: Wall remains with towers and gates. If I skip Peiting, I will get into Landsberg pretty early that day, but if I spend a couple hours there, it will make it pretty late into Augsburg, so I will probaly spend the night in Landsburg - depends somewhat on what I can find for accommodations. I plan to stay the second night in Dinkelsbühl, after visiting Donauwörth and Nördlingen. Staying in Augsburg would make the next day too short. |
LarryinC:
I probably would still drive a car again - even with the headaches. Too bad there isn't convenient train stops in the same cities. If you have spent a lot of time in Rothenburg, then Nordlingen and Dinkelsbuhl will seem familiar - maybe not as touristy. Augsburg is a bigger city with lots of history. It is one of the cities along the Romatic Road I would like to spend more time in. |
When we drove the Romantic Road, we mainly did Fussen, Rothenburg, and Wurzburg - overnight in each of these. But we did stop in Landsberg for lunch - and wished we had more time to spend there. It was such a beautiful little village - I think you will really enjoy an overnight there.
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I guess we were lucky on our Rom. Rd. drive--no traffic troubles at all. But we didn't go any farther north than Rothenburg.
hausfrau--We stayed at Burg Colmberg a few years ago--enjoyed it a lot. And the restaurant was also very good. |
Bird,
there is bus service between Schongau and Nördlingen. It goes through Augsburg and Donauwörth. |
Bird,
Sorry, my mistake. There is RAIL service between Schongau and Nördlingen. There is bus service everywhere else. |
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